One in seven people do regular voluntary work
County Highest Among Leitrim Found Rate Of Volunteering A The To In Was Be
One in seven people in Ireland take part regularly in helping or voluntary work, with sporting organisations benefitting from a surge in volunteers in recent years.
The latest in-depth publication from the Central Statistics Office on the 2022 Census focuses on the number of volunteers in communities across the country.
While 40% of those who volunteered did so with a sporting organisation, equating to 6% of the overall population, people were less likely to volunteer in many cities according to the CSO.
The highest rate of volunteering among a county was to be found in Leitrim, with 18% of its population helping out. This compared to just 11% in Dublin city.
In Cork County, the rate of volunteering was 16% compared to just 12% in the city.
CSO statistician Sheelagh Bonham said: “Volunteering in the community and for a social or charity organisation were the next two most common voluntary activities in Census 2022.
“Fewer people volunteered for religious groups and political organisations, the latter being the least popular."
A question on volunteering was asked in Census 2022 for the first time since 2006, with sporting organisations seeing a 50% increase in volunteers in that time compared to a 13% drop in volunteers with religious or church groups.
The average age of volunteers tended to be higher than that of the general population at 47 years compared to 38.8 years old.
“More than one in five married people (21%) volunteered in at least one voluntary activity, with 23% of married males and 19% of married females volunteering in at least one activity,” Ms Bonham said. “The proportion of single people who volunteered was 9%.
“In more than one-fifth of families with children, at least one family member was involved in a voluntary activity.”
The data also showed that 15% of Irish citizens volunteered compared to 11% of non-Irish citizens. Volunteer Ireland CEO Nina Arwitz said that the high levels of volunteering from new arrivals to Ireland are welcome.
“Through volunteering, people can become active members of their new community, make friends, learn English, and build their own local network,” she said. “It's important to remember that people making Ireland their home make a huge contribution to our communities.”
The CSO data also suggests that just under a quarter of people who worked from home at least once a day took part in volunteering, comprising some 182,072 people.
Ms Arwitz added: “We’d encourage people to think about what time they have spare and even if it’s only an hour a week or a few days here and there, you’d be surprised at what’s available.”